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https://store.steampowered.com/app/1608450/Hellslave/ Hellslave is currently free on Steam. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/deathloop Deathloop is currently free on Epic Games Store. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/ogu-and-the-secret-forest-ffc421 Ogu and the Secret Forest is currently free on Epic Games Store for PC. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/ogu-and-the-secret-forest-android-362ff7 https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/ogu-and-the-secret-forest-ios-b1ed8f Ogu and the Secret Forest is currently free on Epic Games Store for Android and iOS devices. https://freebies.indiegala.com/daily-chthonicle-editors-edition Daily Chthonicle: Editor's Edition is currently free on IndieGala.

Fact of the Day - NEW COLOR Did you know.... If you’ve never heard of olo, there’s a good reason for that: You’ve almost certainly never seen it either. The new color, described as a “blue-green of unprecedented saturation,” has been seen by only five people in a laboratory setting, as it’s beyond the range of normal human visibility. Researchers discovered the teal-like hue by stimulating the M cone in subjects’ retinas with a laser device called an Oz, which allowed them to see a color said to be more saturated than any found in the natural world. The retina has three cones — L detects long wavelengths, M detects medium wavelengths, and S detects short wavelengths — that typically overlap to a certain degree. By using the Oz, scientists were able to activate the M cone in isolation, making it possible to see a color never perceived by humans before. “It was jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly saturated,” said Ren Ng, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, who both co-authored and participated in the study, in an interview with The Guardian. “We predicted from the beginning that it would look like an unprecedented color signal, but we didn’t know what the brain would do with it.” Researchers believe, or at least hope, that the science that enabled the participants to see olo could one day help people with red-green colorblindness experience the full spectrum of color. Source: Scientists have discovered a new color only five people have seen.

What's the Word: LABILITY pronunciation: [lə-BIL-ə-dee] Part of speech: noun Origin: Middle French, 14th century Meaning: 1. Liability to change; ease of alteration. Examples: "The lability of children’s moods makes planning their birthday parties a challenge." "Chloe has been surprised by the lability of her musical tastes over the years." About Lability “Lability” is derived from the Middle French term “labilité,” itself based on the Latin “lābilis,” meaning “apt to slip.” Did you Know? In its original form at the beginning of the Renaissance, the word “lability” didn’t just refer to the potential for a person or thing to change. Instead, in the 16th century, “lability” denoted a person’s likelihood of slipping into error, sin, irrationality, or bad behavior. By the 1700s, the term had come to mean simply “instability.” The neutral definition of “lability” (referring to transience or changeability) won out in the ensuing centuries. Today, “lability” is most often used in psychology as a term for emotional fluctuation and responsiveness.

Imu seems to speak through Gunko as it gives orders to the Holy Knights. Gunko then uses her powers to turn Dorry and Brogy into demonic versions of themselves, along with some other Giants, and gave them orders to kill and destroy. And Jarul refuses to run.

Fact of the Day - NORTH ALWAYS AT THE TOP ON MAP Did you know.... If anyone is responsible for modern maps’ northward focus, it’s Claudius Ptolemy. North doesn’t always mean “up” when it comes to geophysics. Scientists have known for decades that magnetic north, a spot once located in Arctic Canada, is moving toward Siberia. And magnetic north is different from geographic north, a place where all the meridians of longitude intersect in the Northern Hemisphere. But even these facts don't quite explain why modern maps always feature north at the top. There’s nothing inherently upward about north. Some ancient Egyptian maps put south on top; in medieval Europe, Christian cartographers tended to give that distinction to east, since you had to turn that way to face Jerusalem. Others placed east on top because of the rising sun (that’s why we “orient” ourselves). And early American settlers sometimes used maps with west on top, because that was the direction they often traveled. If anyone is responsible for maps’ northward focus, it’s Claudius Ptolemy. His Geographia, written in the 2nd century CE, featured a map of the known world with north on top. Why he positioned it that way is not clear, but it may be that the Library of Alexandria, where he did his research, just didn’t have much information on the Southern Hemisphere. Renaissance scholars revived Ptolemy’s work, and by then, the phenomenon of magnetic north had been discovered, making his layout even more appealing to mapmakers. The magnetic north pole, however, was not located until 1831. On an otherwise disastrous expedition to Arctic in search of the Northwest Passage, British explorer James Clark Ross discovered the pole—the spot where a compass needle on a horizontal axis points straight down—on the west coast of Canada's Boothia peninsula. "I must leave it to others to imagine the elation of mind with which we found ourselves now at length arrived at this great object of our ambition," Ross wrote. "Nothing now remained for us but to return home and be happy for the rest of our days." Source: Why is North Always At the Top on a Map?

What's the Word: EBULLITION pronunciation: [eb-ə-LIH-shən] Part of speech: noun Origin: Latin, late 16th century Meaning: 1. The action of bubbling or boiling. 2. A sudden outburst of emotion or violence. Examples: "The professor asked lab students to heat hydrochloric acid to its ebullition point." "When I got my college acceptance letter, I had an ebullition of tears of joy." About Ebullition “Ebullition” is based on the Latin “ēbullītiō,” meaning “bubbling up.” Did you Know? Making candy at home requires close attention to the temperature of ebullition. Most candies begin as sugar syrups, which are then boiled to precise temperatures in order to achieve certain characteristics of clarity versus cloudiness, or hardness versus chewiness. High-temperature ebullition is necessary to turn sugar syrup into hard candy, and it requires a gentle touch, since boiling sugar syrup risks splashing back at the chef.

Don't plan on stopping, but given that in the 13 or so years I've been regularly watching anime I only have a third of that, so at the very least it's going to be a while before I reach it. May have mentioned it already but Code Geass for me :D Though I didn't get hooked till way later

Ping Pong This has been on the backlog for the a while. One of the better sports anime I've seen, overshadowed only by a series like One Outs. Loved the character arc of the Chinese transfer student, definitely one of the highlights of this series. The story explores the world of competitive sports and the struggles of those who live in it: pursuing excellence, finding meaning, and sometimes accepting when you just aren't cut out for something. Cool OP. Scum's Wish "If one of us is feeling lonely, what's wrong with wanting the other to hold you" Scum's Wish - the series about a boy and girl with unrequited loves forming a codependent physical relationship as a means of coping with their loneliness. Or well that's what your initial impression might be before an entire love polygon topography develops, at the expense of the main relationship in my opinion. My thought's on this series are very mixed. The premise is promising, as esoteric kinds of relationships are rarely given much attention but the drama felt a little excessive at times and some of the character's actions feel out of place. ED was interesting; song for it was pretty.

Fact of the Day - SPUD WRENCH Did you know... Wrenches get the best nicknames out of virtually any tool. Casual home improvement projects don’t usually call for a spud wrench, a tool that turns fasteners on one end and features a long, tapered spike on the other. It’s a curious design, albeit one that still occupies the equipment collection of specialty workers. In the tradition of many other wrenches—the monkey wrench, the Allen wrench, and the Crescent wrench—it also sports a strange name. So why is it called a “spud wrench”? And what exactly is it used for? The Origin of Spud Wrench The Oxford English Dictionary’s first citation for the term spud wrench in print occurred in 1939 (though we were able to actually date a reference back to 1906). Per the OED, a book with the high-octane title of Steam and Hot Water Fitting described the spud wrench as “another handy tool … made to fit the spuds of the different sizes of the union radiator valves and traps.” In this instance, spud appears to refer to a plumbing component, hence the need for a specialty wrench. Another OED citation, this one coming in 1960, provides a different perspective with some regrettable language. The wrench “is so called because the handle is formed into a long, heavy pin (or spud) that is thrust through and used by the erection men for matching up holes in connections to be fastened together.” In one case, the spud is a part. In the latter, it’s the handle itself—a piercing tool used by “erection men” to line up holes in steelwork so that a bolt or other securing hardware can be threaded through. But the OED omits any etymology for the term. One possible explanation comes with the slang term for food. Spud was used to describe a potato as far back as the 1800s. The tool used to uproot the potato was also known as a spud. The most likely explanation is that a spud wrench may have reminded someone of such a tool, though its purpose was to align holes, not to be used for farming work. Why People Reach for a Spud Wrench The spud wrench grew popular with the growth of high-rise construction in the 20th century when workers had to secure iron or steel beams and girders and needed a tool that could perform several functions at once. The tool became known as an ironworker’s spud wrench for this reason, though it also had applications in automotive assembly. The appeal was in the versatility: Line up two holes with the tapered end, then flip it to use the wrench to secure a bolt. But the wrench isn’t relegated strictly to steelwork. As the OED noted, plumbers use a spud wrench to loosen specific components (bolts, collars) in older toilets, which connect the toilet with the refill water tank. This version of the spud wrench, however, is considerably different in design than the construction spud wrench, with two adjustable heads meant to circumvent the tight space of plumbing fasteners. Spud wrenches are still part of the ironworker’s tool belt. They’re emblematic enough of the trade that in 2003, a gathering of workers involved a spud wrench tossing competition in which players scored points by landing the wrench’s spiked end on a bull’s eye 25 feet away. Tossing, dropping, or otherwise mishandling a heavy tool of impalement can have consequences. In 1979, a Missourian worker named Al Shaw was sitting on a beam when a spud wrench fell 125 feet, plunging into his back. It missed his spinal column by just 2 inches. Source: Why Is It Called a “Spud Wrench”?

What's the Word: NOCUOUS pronunciation: [NAHK-yoo-əs] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Latin, mid-17th century Meaning: 1. Noxious, harmful, or poisonous. Examples: "The lab techs wore close-fitting face masks to protect them from the nocuous liquids they were mixing." "Removing the nocuous plants growing behind the garden was a complicated job." About Nocuous “Nocuous” is based on the Latin “nocuus,” an adjective based on the verb “nocere,” meaning “to hurt.” Did you Know? The definition for “nocuous” in the Oxford English Dictionary includes the words “poisonous” and “venomous.” But talk to a veterinarian or park ranger, and they’ll tell you that those two words are not synonyms. A poison is a toxin that enters the body by inhalation, swallowing, or absorption through the skin (think: poison ivy). Venom is a toxin that enters the body through injection: snake bites, bee stings, spider bites, etc. So, while both venom and poison are nocuous in that they are harmful, they are not synonymous with each other.

I remember the first anime I ever watched was Sailor Moon, that's when I got hooked on anime.

Just keep watching anime and never stop haha

Fact of the Day - DEFECTIVE CARS Did you know... Having your engine burst into flames after driving off the car lot is a sour experience. But where did the association with lemons come from? Shopping for a car, new or used, can be a nerve-wracking experience. If you buy new, you risk sticker shock and dealer add-ons. Purchase used cars and you’re never quite sure if your new vehicle will turn into a headache 10 miles down the road. In the latter case, we sometimes refer to defective cars as “lemons.” States even refer to their consumer protection bills against crummy cars as “lemon laws.” But why do we associate a death trap with a tangy fruit? The Connection Between Cars and Lemons According to Green’s Dictionary of Slang, using lemon to denote a fraudulent or worthless purchase dates back to 1909; its use in reference to cars specifically goes back to 1923, when one used car dealer profiled in The Oakland Tribune is said to have “congratulated himself upon having rid himself of a lemon finally.” Lemon as a noun or adjective has often been associated with something unpleasant or unpalatable—as some people find the tartness of the lemon to be—or something that’s turned sour. The car-lemon connection may have been cemented with an ad Volkswagen ran in the 1960s. Like most of their minimalist advertising from the period, it consisted of a photo of a car and a stark caption: “lemon.” The copy goes on to say that Volkswagen’s quality inspectors had caught several flaws with this particular car, ensuring it didn’t arrive to a dealership with those blemishes intact. “We pluck the lemons,” the ad concluded. “You get the plums.” The Origin of Lemon Laws It wasn’t until 1975, though, that consumers had federal lemon protection. The Magnuson Moss Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act guaranteed consumers wouldn’t be stuck with a faulty consumer product, including cars, or suffer unreasonable warranty terms. The law applies to consumer items of all types, though cars were of particular concern as they’re often the most expensive item prone to mechanical failure a person can buy. It quickly became known as “the lemon law,” though it really refers more to the warranty of the vehicle than the vehicle itself. In New York, for example, state law says that a new car must conform to the manufacturer’s warranty and that, if repair cannot be made within a reasonable number of attempts, the purchaser is due a refund. The lemon laws can vary by state and by vehicle condition, so it’s important to know which rules apply. It’s also crucial to get an inspection and pull a motor vehicle history report when buying used and to pay attention to what a dealer’s window sticker might say about a vehicle being sold with a guarantee or as-is. There is one situation where having a lemon can pay off—sort of. According to analysts at iSeeCars, who examined used car prices against the MSRP of a new car, one color had the lowest depreciation at 4.5 percent, far lower than the average of 15 percent. That color? Yellow. Source: Why Do We Call Defective Cars “Lemons”?

What's the Word: SERRIED pronunciation: [SAIR-eed] Part of speech: adjective Origin: French, mid-17th century Meaning: 1. (Of rows of people or things) Standing close together. Examples: "The doors opened to reveal the elevator was already full of serried passengers." "I wanted to stay for the last band of the night, but the crowd was so serried, I could barely breathe." About Serried The adjective “serried” is based on the related verb “serry” (meaning “press close”), a loanword from the French “serré,” meaning “tight,” “cramped,” or “locked.” Did you Know? One of the places most famously full of serried travelers is the Tokyo subway system, which moves 9 million people every day. During off-hours, Tokyo’s subways are rarely crowded, but as rush hour begins, a Tokyo train has a more tightly serried population than most spots on Earth. The crowds are so heavy that the subway authority employs white-gloved attendants (known as “passenger pushers”) to squeeze riders into cars in a serried formation in order to allow the doors to close.

Fact of the day - STONE TOOLS Did you know... Humans are often thought of as the smartest animals, and one of the perks of our top-notch brains (with a little help from our opposable thumbs) is supposedly that we’re the only species that can use tools. That’s what we used to think, anyway. More recently, research has shown that our tool-use ability is not as unique as we once believed. Take, for instance, the capuchin monkey. Research published in 2019 showed that these pint-sized creatures, native to Central and South America — and sometimes known as “organ grinder” monkeys — have been using stone tools to process food for more than 3,000 years. Archaeologists analyzing a site in Brazil’s Serra da Capivara National Park discovered that the monkeys had used rounded quartzite stones to smash open cashew husks against tree roots or stone “anvils.” After digging through layers of sediment in four phases of excavation, the scientists found stone tools that had been used by the capuchins dating back around 3,000 years. The researchers also found signs that the monkeys’ tool use had changed over time — the creatures first used smaller stone tools, and then around 560 years ago, switched to larger ones, which may have meant they were eating harder foods, according to National Geographic. This evolution could have occurred due to different groups of capuchins moving into the area, or a change in the local plants. Either way, the study marked the first time such an evolution in tool use had been seen in a nonhuman species. Scientists suspect that further exploration of this site, and others like it, could give an unprecedented look at humanity’s own tool-use evolution, which began millions of years ago. Furthermore, primates — the taxonomic order to which humans also belong — aren’t the only ones gifted with brains capable of using tools. Elephants, dolphins, and a variety of birds are only a few of the other species that use tools — whether sticks, rocks, or tree limbs — to survive and thrive on planet Earth. Orangutans know how to make instruments. When it comes to primitive tools, instruments don’t usually count — that is, unless you’re an orangutan. In 2009, scientists revealed that orangutans use folded leaves to make sounds that may trick predators into thinking they’re bigger than they actually are. These musical noises, called “kiss squeaks,” were even used by wild orangutans who sensed the human researchers as a threat. This discovery is the first known nonhuman instrument and nonhuman tool used for communication. It’s also not even the extent of the orangutans’ impressive, tool-making abilities. A 2018 study revealed that orangutans were better at making tools than human children up to age 8. This growing body of scholarship only shows that complex intelligence is not a trait exclusively enjoyed by Homo sapiens. Source: Monkeys have been using stone tools for thousands of years.

What's the Word: PENTIMENTO pronunciation: [pen-tə-MEN-toh] Part of speech: noun Origin: Italian, 19th century Meaning: 1. A visible trace of earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas. Examples: "Beneath the image of the bull in the center of the painting, there was a pentimento of a ship’s mast." "Robyn left a pentimento of the image he had painted over peeking out from beneath his painting." About Pentimento The Italian “pentimento” means “to repent,” or “to make a correction or update.” In English, it describes the visible memory of a previous image beneath a more recent painting as an artifact of artistic correction or update to the previous work of art. Did you Know? Often, a pentimento (“pentimenti” is the plural form) is the product of correction in a painting. In some cases, a painting may be entirely painted over with a new work, leaving behind the ghost of the original image as a pentimento. However, pentimenti may reveal aspects of the artist’s process. Works by most of the great masters rarely contain these remnants, but Caravaggio and Rembrandt tended to paint more experimentally, with less prior planning. They more frequently made changes on canvas as they worked, sometimes leaving pentimenti.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2619940/A_Story_About_Farting/ A Story About Farting is currently free on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1180660/Tell_Me_Why https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/Tell-Me-Why-Chapters-1-3/9NF83PRZK6K3 Tell Me Why is currently free on Steam and Xbox.

Fact of the Day - THE TOOTH FAIRY Did you know... While the Tooth Fairy herself may be surprisingly modern, the bits of folklore that went into her creation are hundreds of years old. The Tooth Fairy is a familiar figure to millions of children around the world. The mythical character is most popular in English-speaking countries, with kids knowing that if they put a lost baby tooth under their pillow at night, the elusive Tooth Fairy will sneak in and replace it with money. Although not as big of a deal as a visit from the other two major fictional gift-givers—Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny—a visit from the Tooth Fairy is still highly anticipated. But compared to jolly St. Nick and the egg-bearing bunny, both of whom have roots that date back hundreds of years, the Tooth Fairy is a relatively modern invention. Here’s the strange—and surprisingly rodent-filled—origin story of the winged figure. The Tooth Fairy Takes Flight The Tooth Fairy has been swapping milk teeth for money for generations. But it wasn’t until the 1970s that the history behind the folklore started being uncovered. In 1972, Rosemary Wells, a professor at Chicago’s Northwestern University Dental School, was asked by a student about the history of the Tooth Fairy. “I thought I’d simply go to the library, get the information and bring it back,” she explained in a 1992 interview. But Wells couldn’t find anything about the mythological fairy and so decided to conduct her own investigation. After years of research, she became the foremost Tooth Fairy expert—her business card even identified her as the “Tooth Fairy consultant.” While the myth of the Tooth Fairy may seem like a tale as old as time, the story’s first mention in print is surprisingly recent. In a September 1908 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, the Household Hints column featured a tip from reader Lillian Brown: “Many a refractory child will allow a loose tooth to be removed if he knows about the tooth fairy. If he takes his little tooth and puts it under the pillow when he goes to bed the tooth fairy will come in the night and take it away, and in its place will leave some little gift.” Tales of the Tooth Fairy were likely being shared orally around the time Brown wrote in with her tip, but the figure doesn’t pop up again in print until 1927, in Esther Watkins Arnold’s short children’s play The Tooth Fairy. The myth then continued to spread its wings throughout the 20th century—particularly after World War II. Folklorist Tad Tuleja suggests three reasons for the Tooth Fairy’s rise in popularity during the mid-20th century. Firstly, people experienced greater prosperity after the war, which meant many parents could now afford to give their kids a little bit of money. It was also around this time that the traditional family set up became more child-orientated; this led to parents being more likely to soothe their children’s small anxieties (for instance, over losing a tooth). Finally, there was the popularity and influence of fairy-filled Disney films—from the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950) to Tinkerbelle in Peter Pan (1953). There’s usually a general consensus about what mythical characters look like—for instance, Santa is typically bearded, rotund, and red-suited—but the lines are a little more blurred with the Tooth Fairy. In 1984, Wells conducted a survey and found that 74 percent of participants believed the Tooth Fairy was female, while 12 percent thought the figure was male (the remaining 8 percent thought they could be either gender). Some children don’t even picture the Tooth Fairy as a humanoid being at all: Wells documented one kid who imagined a Tooth Fairy Dragon. In today’s culture, the Tooth Fairy is most often depicted as a small female fairy, but there are also some more creative modern interpretations, such as half-hummingbird Toothiana from Rise of the Guardians (2012). It All Started with a Mouse Although the Tooth Fairy is typically anthropomorphic, the myth may have originated from older Continental European stories of a Tooth Mouse. To this day, in many counties, the tooth-for-money swap is said to be performed by a small rodent rather than a winged fairy. It’s thought this mouse-based myth may have been blended together with the numerous children’s tales about fairies to produce the Tooth Fairy that we know today. In France, baby teeth are collected by La Petite Souris (The Little Mouse), who can be traced back to Madame d’Aulnoy’s 1697 fairy tale La bonne petite souris (The Little Good Mouse). The story features a fairy who can turn into a mouse and who knocks out an evil king’s teeth (but doesn’t exchange them for money). This tale was translated into English in 1890—less than two decades before the Tooth Fairy first appeared in print. In Spain, the tooth-collecting mouse is El Ratoncito Pérez (Pérez the Little Mouse), who first appeared in Fernán Caballero’s Cuentos, oraciones, adivinanzas y refranes populares (1877). But Pérez didn’t become the Tooth Mouse until 1894, when Luis Coloma was asked to write a story for Alfonso XIII, the child King of Spain who had just lost his first milk tooth. Rather than cash, Pérez left a present fit for a king—the Order of the Golden Fleece—under the fictional monarch’s pillow. The story was first published in English in 1914, when tales of the Tooth Fairy were starting to take root. Stories of a Tooth Mouse weren’t the first time that myths and rituals had been created around childhood tooth loss, though. In the Old Norse poem Grímnismál, it’s said that Álfheimr—the Land of the Elves—was a “tooth gift” for the god Freyr. In New Guinea and Senegal, it was tradition to bury baby teeth, while in South Korea kids would throw their pearly whites onto the roof. But the ritual of offering teeth to a mouse is the most prevalent and enduring practice (although it’s now rivaled by the Tooth Fairy), having been documented in cultures around the world. Along with various countries in Europe, folklore about a Tooth Mouse ranges from Ukraine and South Africa to numerous Latin American countries. Children don’t always receive money; in some countries the tooth is offered in a sympathetic magic exchange, with the belief being that it’ll make their adult gnashers grow in as strongly as a rodent’s teeth. Source: The Strange Origins of the Tooth Fairy

What's the Word: FOSSICK pronunciation: [FAH-sik] Part of speech: verb Origin: Australia and New Zealand, mid-19th century Meaning: 1. (informal) Rummage; search. 2. Search for gold in abandoned workings. Examples: "Alvin went to the flea market to fossick for interesting trinkets." "The prospectors went to great lengths to fossick for gold." About Fossick This term was coined in the 1850s by Australians and New Zealanders, but it may be rooted in a word known to British immigrants: “fussock,” a dialect term meaning "to bustle about" or "to fidget." Did you Know? “Fossick” is a term that became popular with 19th-century Aussies and Kiwis who picked over abandoned mining excavations to search for gold or gemstones. In Australia, "fossicking" is protected by a number of laws which vary from state to state. For example, in Queensland, fossickers must obtain a license, but in New South Wales, there is no such requirement. Interestingly, searching for opal has its own specific term: “noodling,” which is also a term for catfish fishing in the southern United States.

Fact of the Day - BIRDS Did you know.... South America is known for its stunning avian diversity, with colorful toucans, ubiquitous parrots, and an untold number of other feathered friends. (Seriously, there are new species being discovered every year.) But no country in South America — or the world, for that matter — compares to Colombia. With around 1,900 bird species within its borders, the country hosts nearly 20% of all avian species in the world, which is more than any other nation. Although some of the most common varieties — like sparrows, tanagers, and finches — may be recognizable to birders in more northern climates, the critically endangered blue-billed curassow (Crax alberti) and the rare Cauca guan (Penelope perspicax) are just a few of the dozens of species endemic to Colombia. And the country takes its natural wonders seriously. As one of the most biodiverse nations in the world, with the Amazon taking up 35% of the country’s landmass, Colombia committed to declaring 30% of its land a protected area by 2030 — and got it done eight years early. A 2023 study also found that Colombia takes an unusual approach to conserving its natural areas by adding biodiversity protection as a secondary goal of many other policy initiatives, such as ones addressing poverty and civil strife. That doesn’t mean Colombia is immune to threats of deforestation and climate change, but the country is working hard to protect its bounty — which includes 10% of the world’s total species. Colombia is home to a world-famous river known as the “liquid rainbow.” Some of the world’s rivers are known for historical reasons (Italy’s Rubicon) or their proximity to major centers of power (London’s Thames), but one of the most amazing rivers in the world lies in the backwoods of Colombia. In fact, it was so well hidden that the river was only discovered by non-Indigenous people a little more than 50 years ago. Called Caño Cristales, or the “Crystal Channel,” the river is located in central Colombia’s Sierra de La Macarena National Natural Park and is known for its vibrant display of colors, earning it the nickname “liquid rainbow.” The river gets its mixture of yellows, greens, blues, blacks, and especially reds from the reproductive process of aquatic plants (Macarenia clavigera) that live in the riverbed. Because water levels are affected by the country’s wet and dry seasons, the best time to glimpse this river is from May until November. Source: Colombia has more bird species than any other country.

What's the Word: JUDDER pronunciation: [JUH-dər] Part of speech: verb Origin: Chiefly British, early 20th century Meaning: 1. (Especially of something mechanical) shake and vibrate rapidly and with force. Examples: "The gearshift would judder every time Mike started the car." "The girl juddered in the cold breeze because she wasn’t dressed warmly." About Judder This word was first used around the 1930s, likely as an imitative of the word “shudder.” Did you Know? When the motion is a little choppy on the TV, this is known as “judder.” In more technical terms, it occurs when the frame rate of the content on the screen doesn’t divide evenly into the refresh rate of the TV it’s playing on. This often happens when displaying cinematic 24p content on a panel that uses a refresh rate of 60 Hz — meaning the display refreshes 60 times every second.

My backlog also only ever seems to grow as time passes no matter what xD. I imagine if I went to prune it I could shrink it considerably but that would require remembering why I even wanted to watch half of it in the first place. 1000 is quite the milestone! Wonder if I will ever get to that many...

Fact of the Day - MONKEY BREAD Did you know... The beloved pastry has a whimsical—yet undoubtedly odd—name. Monkey bread—a sticky pull-apart pastry that’s typically made from canned biscuit dough—is a sugary, cinnamony treat. Perhaps it’s a traditional part of your family’s Christmas feasts. Or maybe grandma was known for whipping it up for special brunches. Despite its seemingly silly name, monkey bread has nothing to do with actual monkeys. So why is this sweet pastry named after primates? Let’s dig into the history of monkey bread, starting from the very beginning. Monkey Bread’s Hungarian Roots Before it became a centerpiece on Americans’ tables, this dish was known as something else entirely. Food historians trace its roots to aranygaluska, a Hungarian dessert that translates to “golden dumpling.” This pull-apart sweet bread was brought to the U.S. by Hungarian Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century. Aranygaluska was a bakery staple in immigrant communities, especially in California, for several decades. In the 1970s, Betty Crocker even featured it in a cookbook; the book labeled the sweet dish as “Hungarian Coffee Cake.” Eventually, the dish became known as “monkey bread”—a name that has stuck around to this day. And thanks to actress and first lady Nancy Reagan (a big fan of the treat), monkey bread made it to the White House Christmas table, cementing its status as a classic. The pastry has continued to evolve; now, there are seemingly countless recipes floating around the internet for traditional monkey bread, other sweet versions, and even savory spins on the dish. The Many Theories Behind Monkey Bread’s Name There’s no clear answer as to how monkey bread got its name. But, like most good mysteries, there are several theories at play. The most common explanation is that it’s named after the way it’s eaten: with your fingers, pulling apart the sticky pieces of dough one by one, much like a monkey might eat something. Some also trace it back to 20th-century slang. In the 1940s, monkey food was Southern slang for casual snacks you could pick at. That, combined with jumble bread—another old-timey term for breads made from small pieces of dough—could have led to monkey bread. Another theory credits silent film star ZaSu Pitts, who reportedly used the term in a 1945 cooking column after bringing the recipe home from Nashville. Pitts was known for her lavish Hollywood parties; and apparently, her monkey bread was a hit. In the end, monkey bread might just be one of those names that stuck, literally and figuratively. Like the dessert itself, it’s a little weird and oddly delightful. Source: Why Is It Called “Monkey Bread”?

What's the Word: CONVERSANT pronunciation: [kən-VER-sənt] Part of speech: adjective Origin: Middle English, 13th century Meaning: 1. Familiar with or knowledgeable about something. Examples: "Charlene was conversant with wines, so we let her choose the vintage." "Video games have made some players surprisingly conversant with minute details of history." About Conversant “Conversant” is related to the Latin word “converse,” meaning to live in a place and among people, or to associate with. In its earliest iteration, “conversant” referred to living consistently in one place. By the 15th century, “conversant” was coming to mean living or associating with something or someone. By the 17th century, it was common to use “conversant” with its modern meaning of being well-versed in a subject. Did you Know? Both “conversant” and “conversation” relate to the Latin root “converse,” which can be read in many different ways. Over the years, to “converse” has meant to live or associate with others, to have sexual intercourse, to make business deals and trade in goods, to hold inward communion with, and to engage in conversation. “Conversant” refers less to the conversational aspects of its root word and more to the idea of proximity. One who is conversant with a subject is someone who has lived close to it for a long time and knows it intimately.

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